Maja Malou Lyse: ‘Completely Surreal’ to Represent Denmark at Venice Biennale 2026
Lyse, who has been described as ‘Danish art’s fourth‑wave feminist’, is the youngest ever artist chosen to exhibit at the Danish Pavilion at Venice. Save to My Ocula
Maja Malou Lyse will represent Denmark at the 61st Venice Biennale, becoming the youngest ever artist chosen to exhibit at the Danish Pavilion.
The 31-year-old artist, who has been described as ‘Danish art’s fourth-wave feminist’, was selected by the Danish Arts Foundation’s Project Support Committee for investing herself in art with ‘full control and superiority as she explores objectification, identity, and societal norms’.
Lyse said it was ‘completely surreal’ to have the opportunity.
‘I am truly grateful that the committee has chosen to pass the baton on to me,’ she said, adding that she is ‘ready to give the biennale some sex appeal’.
Lyse’s multimedia practice takes a critical look at the body’s relationship to images, working with everyday media like television, social media, billboards, and tabloids.
Even before graduating the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2022, Lyse hosted the television show Sex Med Maja (Sex with Maja, 2019) on Danish national television, which sought to challenge expectations and prejudices around sex.
In 2021, Lyse held her first institutional solo exhibition at Kunstmuseum Brandts in Denmark. Her performances have been staged at Tate Modern in London, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen.
Last year, the committee appointed Greenlandic artist Inuuteq Storch, who was the youngest artist nominated for the Danish Pavilion at the time.
Previous artists to represent Denmark include digital sculptor Uffe Isolotto (2022) and Danish Palestinian artist and filmmaker Larissa Sansour (2019). —[O]
The 61st Venice Biennale will take place from 9 May to 22 November 2026. Other announced artists for national pavilions include Zanzibar-born British artist Lubaina Himid for the United Kingdom; photographer Fiona Pardington for Aotearoa New Zealand; and French Moroccan artist Yto Barrada for France. The main exhibition will be curated by Koyo Kouoh, executive director and chief curator of Cape Town’s Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA). See Ocula’s Guide to the Venice Biennale to stay up to date with developments, and also our list of those artists representing their countries.
Main image: Exhibition view: Maja Malou Lyse, MM, Overgaden, Copenhagen (31 August–27 October 2024). Courtesy the artist and Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen. Photo: David Stjernholm.
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